To jumble, mix and butcher a couple of metaphors, the upcoming Feb. 5 contest for Democratic ward committeeman in the 41st and 50th wards is about the shelf life of the occupant of a job which is barely worth a bucket of warm spit.

A long-ago vice-president, Texan John Nance Garner, who served 1933–40, opined that his job “wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.” That was back in the days when spittoons were still in use. Without city, county or state patronage, a contemporary Chicago committeeman’s job is the equivalent of Garner’s, and the occupant is often mistaken for a spittoon.

But the two wards’ incumbents, Ralph Capparelli (41st) and Berny Stone (50th), are still saleable, well-known commodities. They’ve been political fixtures for almost 40 years. And even though both are septuagenarians – Capparelli is 82 and Stone 80 – their political shelf life has not yet expired.

Amusingly, or perhaps ironically, neither professes to want the job. But neither will surrender it. “I’m running because nobody from my organization wanted it,” said Capparelli, committeeman since 1992, and state representative from 1971 to 2004. “I’m running because the kid” – meaning State Senator Ira Silverstein (D-8) – “didn’t ask me for it, and went behind my back and tried to steal it from me,” said Stone, committeeman since 1998, and alderman since 1973.

“I didn’t know I was running against a saint,” smirked Frank Coconate, one of Capparelli’s three opponents. “We need a committeeman who wants the job, not somebody who can’t find somebody else to take it. The job is an opportunity, not a sacrifice.”
Here’s an analysis of each race:

50th Ward (West Rogers Park: Howard to Peterson, west of Ravenswood to Kedzie, and to Ridgeway south of Devon): Stone, one of Chicago’s two Jewish aldermen, is acerbic, crusty, curmudgeonly, and much beloved by his Jewish constituents. He has chutzpah in abundance, and is never hesitant to verbally insult his foes. Unfortunately for Stone, his ward is becoming less Jewish by the minute, with the Third World population exploding.

According to the 2000 census, the Jewish population was around 25 percent, but Jews comprise over 40 percent of the voter pool, and over 50 percent of the vote in a normal Democratic primary. Asians (including Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and Thais) comprise 25 percent of the population, non-Jewish whites 20 percent, Asian Indians and Pakistanis ten percent, and Muslims, Russians and Hispanics the remainder.

The upside for Silverstein is that 2008 will be an abnormal primary, with a huge turnout. Silverstein, Stone’s onetime protégé, has endorsed Barack Obama for president, while Stone has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Two 2007 aldermanic losers, Naisy Dolar and Greg Brewer, have endorsed Silverstein, as has U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-9), Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, of Evanston (who is also running for state’s attorney), and State Representative Lou Lang (D-16). Expect the ward to be aswarm with Obama-Schakowsky-Suffredin-Silverstein workers. Also, Stone won’t be the beneficiary of out-of-ward people sent by friendly committeemen, as occurred in the 2007 aldermanic race.

Silverstein’s downside is that president is first on the ballot, and committeeman last, after convention delegates and judges. In 2004, 8,238 Democratic ballots were cast. Stone, running unopposed for committeeman, got 5,919 votes. This year, the Democratic turnout will be close to 10,000, but barely 7,500 will vote for committeeman.

Stone’s strategy is to appeal to his Jewish base, particularly elderly voters. That should be worth an easy 3,500–4,000 votes. Stone is already ripping Silverstein for his alleged dishonesty: “He’s telling Jewish voters that he’s running in order to prevent Naisy (Dolar) from winning in 2011, but then he’s telling everybody else that he will support her. Why else would she (Dolar) endorse him?”
Stone also claims Silverstein is “another Howie Carroll” – the former 26-year state senator and ward committeeman who lost to Schakowsky in 1998. “He (Silverstein) isn’t well-known, can’t make a decision, won’t have regular office hours, and has done nothing during nine years in Springfield.”

Silverstein, understandably, is livid. “Berny is just desperate. His campaign consists of lies and rumors. I’ve made no commitment to Naisy. I’ve been extraordinarily productive in Springfield, getting funds for district projects and sponsoring hate-crime laws. I have office hours two nights a week.”
Adds Silverstein: “It’s time for a change, and Berny won’t change.”
“What’s wrong with that kid?” snapped Stone. “I told him I would resign (as committeeman) after a year, and give it to him. But he wasn’t straightforward with me.” Retorts Silverstein: “That’s another lie. And it’s dishonest of him to run for a job that he’s not going to keep.”

My prediction: Stone won the 2007 aldermanic runoff by just 661 votes (52.9 percent), spending $550,910. The final vote was 5,965–5,304. If Silverstein can attract half the anti-Stone vote, and chip away a third of the pro-Stone vote, he wins. But the Howie Carroll Syndrome looms. Silverstein has not had a tough race since 1998, he’s certainly not as well-known as Stone, and the ward is changing. In a squeaker, Stone will win – extending his shelf life for a few more years.

41st Ward (far Northwest Side: Edison Park, Norwood Park, Oriole Park, part of Edgebrook): In the Democratic committeeman’s race, it’s a battle between the Trojan Horse, Crazy Horse, Ancient Horse, and Invisible Horse.

Like Stone, Capparelli insists that he would have given the job to anybody with a pulse – but who was also a member of his organization, which is the weakest Democratic organization in Chicago. Despite thousands of city and county workers, the 41st Ward has a Republican alderman and state representative, and produces a large Republican vote in state and federal contests.

“Capparelli’s organization is a joke,” said Coconate, the Crazy Horse contender, who was fired from his city job because of his blistering criticism of the Daley Administration, and his short-lived support of Jesse Jackson Jr. for mayor. “I want to register Democrats and elect Democrats,” said Coconate, chairman of the Northwest Side Democratic Organization.
“The party is a mess,” he adds. “We’ve got incompetents like (Todd) Stroger and (Rod) Blagojevich in office because people like Capparelli put them there.”

The incumbent bristles: “Coconate is the joke. He loses every time he runs. He wants to tear down, not build the party.” Capparelli, the Ancient Horse, said he has workers in each of the ward’s 51 precincts, and secured 2,100 signatures on his nominating petitions. Capparelli said he is supporting Clinton for president and Tom Allen for state’s attorney.

Capparelli said he would have “gladly” given the committeeman’s job to John Malatesta, Tom Jaconetty, Jim Sachay or Mike Marzullo, had they wanted it. “But I’m not going to quit, and let somebody like Coconate take it.”

“Enough of the bickering,” proclaimed restaurant owner and former Edison Park Chamber of Commerce president Mary O’Connor, who has become the race’s Trojan Horse. “We need to work together to get things done. We need to work with the alderman and the mayor. We need a stronger Democratic party,” she added.

She saved some choice words for Coconate: “He’s a whiner.” If elected as committeeman, she said, he would use the job “as a platform to attack the mayor.” Coconate has a devastating retort: “She’s a Republican. She would use the job to keep the Republicans dominant.”

O’Connor is a lifelong Northwest sider, and Taft high school graduate. Born in 1956, O’Connor was eligible to vote in 25 primary elections between 1977 and 2007. According to Coconate, O’Connor voted in only two primaries, once as a Democrat, and most recently, in 2004, as a Republican. O’Connor admits that she did vote Republican in 2004, “as a personal favor to Mike McAuliffe,” the incumbent committeeman who was being challenged by Wally Dudycz. She said that she “can’t remember” the times she voted Democratic.

The fourth candidate in the race – the Invisible Horse – is Pat Mulligan, a retired restaurant owner. She denied that she is a “shill” for Coconate, or is running to take votes away from O’Connor. “He (Coconate) did not help me get on the ballot. I am running to help the party.”

My prediction: The 2004 primary attracted 10,134 Democrats. Capparelli, running unopposed, got 7,549 votes. There’s no Obama-mania in the 41st Ward, so turnout won’t eclipse 11,000. Against one foe, Capparelli would have a problem. He has few workers, and has been out of public office since 2004. Against three, he wins.

O’Connor is hoping that older females will hit for Hillary and her, and that McAuliffe and Alderman Brian Doherty can throw her some Republican cross-over votes. Coconate is hoping for a voter rebellion. No such luck. It will be Capparelli with half the vote, O’Connor with a quarter, and Coconate with 20 percent.

Editor’s Note: Writer Stewart, an attorney, defended Coconate in a challenge to his nominating petitions.
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Russ Stewart is a columnist for Nadig newspapers where this article appeared; he is also a political analyst for The Chicago Daily Observer.